Morning Links (and Daily Thread)…

A quick daily look at what’s happening around Steelers Nation. And consider this your open thread for discussing the days events and, well, anything else that comes to mind about the Black and Gold.﻿

– Nobody ever said Steelers football was pretty. Speaking of pretty football, did anybody happen to catch the madness that unfolded in Washington, D.C. last night? Dallas tries to run a play with four seconds left in the first half, fumbles the ball and watches as DeAngelo Hall returns it for a touchdown, then appears to score a touchdown on the final play of the game (to potentially win it, assuming the extra point was good) only to have it taken away because of a holding penalty on Alex Barron. Hey, I’m pretty sure he’ll be available on Monday!

Mendenhall made Eric Coleman of the Falcons look very slow on this play.

If you look closely, check out the nice block by Pouncey on a Falcon Linebacker….not sure if that Line Backer had a chance to make a play, but really like how Pouncey got out to block beyond the defensive line all day.

Randy Steele

Trai Essex thinks Tony Hills will start at left tackle next weekend, according to Jim Wexell.

Also, congratulations on your podcast. I’m proud of you guys. It’s a smart move. Obviously it’s a work in progress but I thought you got off to a good start.

One small tip that might help in the future: Get some index card and with a black magic marker, write any words or phrases you want to prevent yourself from saying, such as “ya know,” “I mean,” and “like.”
Place the cards somewhere you can continually see them while you’re speaking into your microphone or telephone. They’ll be a quiet reminder of what you don’t want to say.

http://www.steelerslounge.com/ ryan

Randy,

Thanks much and great advice.

/writes “UM” on notecard 10 million times.

countertorque

Dixon has to get better, right?

FW

Dixon, in his second career start, had the 16th best passer rating of the day (81.6), ahead of such luminaries as Aaron Rodgers (73.1), Brett Favre (71.7), Matt Ryan (67.6), Matt Schaub (67.5), Donovan McNabb (63.4), and Jake Delhomme (59.2).

Completion %? 8th.

Yards per attmept? 2nd.

Total yards? 12th.

A lot of vets didn’t look any better than Dixon did yesterday, for good reason: at least yesterday, they weren’t.

JCRODRIGUEZ

Hey, wasn’t he supossed to be on a Ryan Leaf pace?…I am confused…

http://www.steelerslounge.com/ ryan

Yes. The thing is, I’ve stared at his stat line and I still have no idea how he put up those numbers. I know he threw the bomb to Mike Wallace and Hines was a nice little security blanket, but still.

Anonymous

The first few games are almost like an extension of preseason, except they count. So I only really care about 4 things:
1. A win
2. Flashes of great plays
3. No clear gaping weaknesses that suggest a low ceiling for the winter months
4. No injuries.